Back in August of 2010, I went to a screening of Ken Russells glorious "The Music Lovers" -a bio of Tchiakovsky, and the director Ken Russell, who died over the weekend was there. This is what I wrote:
"I am not a huge Russel fan but there have been movies that have just rocked me out. “The Boyfriend” -his homage to Busby Berkeley for one. And the two I mentioned previously for us. Everything Russel does is feverish to way Fellini or Zeffirelli are feverish, he can pitch it so over the top, again look at “Tommy”, it doesn’t work as anything but spectacle. In an odd coincidence, Tchaikovskywas considred a minor talent during parts of history and the critics have been fairly dastardly to Russell. Though I think time will find him considered a major visual if not narrative director.